Sense-T to play pivotal role in new CRCs

Sense-T is set to play a pivotal role in two of four national Cooperative Research Centres launched recently, recognising its unique strengths in interdisciplinary research and big data.

The Federal Government announced a $151.5 million investment in the new CRCs, designed to deliver practical solutions to problems and produce tangible outcomes.

The iMove CRC will exploit digital and evolving vehicle technologies to enable traffic to flow more smoothly, creating more efficient intermodal connections and offer real time choice to travellers and freight operators. It’s designed to reduce congestion, fuel use and emissions and improve national productivity and competitiveness.

The CRC for High Performance Soils will help farmers bridge the gap between soil science and farm management, giving them the tools and knowledge to make decisions on complex soil management issues. These will help them optimise productivity, yield and profitability and ensure long-term sustainability of their farming businesses.

“iMOVE is about the use of intelligent transport and intelligent infrastructure,” Associate Professor Cahoon said. “It focusses primarily on the use of autonomous vehicles, seamless end to end supply chains, and personal mobility – how do we move people around in an integrated way.

“The High Performance Soils CRC relates to good stewardship of our soils to ensure they are purposely managed for greater growth of crops and, for example, understanding the impacts of irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.

“Our role will be in terms of the sensor technology development, data analytics and developing visualisation tools.”

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Brigid Heywood said the University of Tasmania’s capability with sensing technology and big data – built through the Sense-T partnership – along with the strength of the University’s Tasmanian Institute for Agriculture (TIA), provided the foundation for its involvement in the CRCs.

“Across the sector, our offering to bids such as these is compelling because of the intellectual and technological capacity which has been built through the Sense-T endeavour,” she said.